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Dysphagia in Older Adults
Thiyagalingam S, Kulinski AE, Thorsteinsdottir B, Shindelar KL, Takahashi PY.. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 2021-02-01
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
Dysphagia, which is a geriatric syndrome affecting 10% to 33% of older adults, is commonly seen in older adults who have experienced a stroke or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer or Parkinson disease. Patients diagnosed as having dysphagia can experience malnutrition, pneumonia, and dehydration. Patients can also experience increased rates of mortality and long-term care admission. Providers can identify the specific type of dysphagia for treatment in approximately 80% of patients by asking 5 questions in the patient's history: What happens when you try to swallow? Do you have trouble chewing? Do you have difficulty swallowing solids, liquids, or both? Describe the symptom onset, duration, and frequency? What are the associated symptoms? Providers can then request a videofluoroscopic swallow study or a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing for further evaluation of oropharyngeal dysphagia. If providers are diagnosing esophageal dysphagia, barium esophagraphy or esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) can be used as part of the assessment. Patients can be treated for oropharyngeal dysphagia by using compensatory interventions, including behavioral changes, oral care, dietary modification, or rehabilitative interventions such as exercises and therapeutic oral trials. Providers often address treatment of esophageal dysphagia by managing the underlying etiology, which could include removal of caustic medications or using EGD as a therapeutic modality for esophageal rings. High-quality, large research studies are necessary to further manage the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of this growing geriatric syndrome.
Key findings
- Providers can then request a videofluoroscopic swallow study or a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing for further evaluation of oropharyngeal dysphagia.
- If providers are diagnosing esophageal dysphagia, barium esophagraphy or esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) can be used as part of the assessment.
- Patients can be treated for oropharyngeal dysphagia by using compensatory interventions, including behavioral changes, oral care, dietary modification, or rehabilitative interventions such as exercises and therapeutic oral trials.
- Providers often address treatment of esophageal dysphagia by managing the underlying etiology, which could include removal of caustic medications or using EGD as a therapeutic modality for esophageal rings.
- High-quality, large research studies are necessary to further manage the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of this growing geriatric syndrome.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Mayo Clinic proceedings) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33549267) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Thiyagalingam, S., Kulinski, A. E., Thorsteinsdottir, B., Shindelar, K. L., & Takahashi, P. Y. (2021). Dysphagia in Older Adults. Mayo Clinic proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.08.001
Vancouver
Thiyagalingam S, Kulinski AE, Thorsteinsdottir B, Shindelar KL, Takahashi PY. Dysphagia in Older Adults. Mayo Clinic proceedings. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.08.001. PMID: 33549267.
BibTeX
@article{thiyagalingam2021-33549267,
author = {Thiyagalingam, S. and Kulinski, A. E. and Thorsteinsdottir, B. and Shindelar, K. L. and Takahashi, P. Y.},
title = {{Dysphagia in Older Adults}},
journal = {Mayo Clinic proceedings},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.08.001},
pmid = {33549267},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.08.001}
}